Fangfan Pavilion

Fangfan Pavilion

Fangfan Pavilion is a cultural relic protection unit of Guangdong Province.

Fangfan Pavilion is located on Wopoling Hill in the northern suburbs of Haifeng County, an area now part of the campus of Pengpai Middle School. This grand, ancient pavilion features an octagonal, two-story design with double eaves and a pointed roof, oriented northwest to southeast. A few meters below the steps leading up to the pavilion lies a large stone tablet measuring 1.5 meters wide and 0.5 meters long, inscribed with four golden characters: “A Meal for a Thousand Autumns.” Ascending the five-tiered, 34-step staircase leads you to the terrace. The terrace is 20 meters long, 13 meters wide, and 9 meters high, supported by eight large pillars holding up the pavilion roof. The base is surrounded by a red wall about one meter high. Behind the terrace stands a small, hip-and-gable-roofed stone pavilion, sheltered beneath the larger one. The smaller pavilion was built first, with the larger one constructed later. Inside the small pavilion stands a stone tablet, 2.7 meters tall and 0.9 meters wide, engraved with a portrait of Wen Tianxiang. This portrait was brought from Wen’s hometown in Luling, Jiangxi, by Gan Gongliang, the prefect of Huizhou during the Ming Dynasty, and then carved onto the tablet. Above the portrait is inscribed Wen Tianxiang’s “Inscription on the Belt”: “Confucius spoke of achieving humanity; Mencius spoke of upholding righteousness. Only when one fulfills righteousness to the utmost can humanity be fully attained. What is the purpose of studying the teachings of the sages? From now on, I shall have no regrets!” This “Inscription on the Belt” was taken from Wen Tianxiang’s belt after his execution in 1283, hence its name. On either side of the small pavilion are stone pillars engraved with a couplet: “In this loyal heart beats only the Song Dynasty; beyond this solitary hill, who remains so devoted?” This couplet was written by Lin Daching, a top imperial scholar from Chaozhou during the Ming Dynasty, and is noted for its powerful and vigorous brushwork.

The *Haifeng Cultural Relics Record: Pavilions and Terraces* states: “In the tenth year of the Zhengde era of the Ming Dynasty (1515), to praise Wen Tianxiang’s noble spirit, Wu Zichang, a local scholar, petitioned Zhang Puan, the Education Commissioner of Guangdong, who approved the effort. Together with Haifeng County Magistrate Du Biao, Deputy Magistrate Chen Yi, Instructor Lin You, and Teaching Assistant Wan Binghe, they jointly established the Loyalty Shrine on Wopoling Hill. Soon after, Chen Xiang, the Huizhou garrison commander, built a Loyalty Archway in front of the shrine (to its south) and constructed Fangfan Pavilion behind it.” Later, the Loyalty Shrine and the Loyalty Archway were destroyed by Japanese bombers during the invasion of China, and the site was later used by Pengpai Middle School to build its campus buildings.

In 2012, the People’s Government of Guangdong Province designated it as a cultural relic protection unit in the province’s seventh batch.

Address: Sihua Road, Haifeng County, Shanwei City, Guangdong Province

Type: Historical Site

Recommended Visiting Time: About 1 hour

Haicheng Town: In the 27th year of the Hongwu era (1384 AD), Haicheng Town belonged to Xingxianfang. At the beginning of the Republican era, it was designated as District One and established as Haicheng Town in 1950. It is the seat of the Haifeng County government, the hometown of Peng Pai, a renowned proletarian revolutionary and outstanding leader of the agrarian movement in China, the birthplace of China’s first worker-peasant red political power, and a famous historical and cultural city in Guangdong Province. Listed by the provincial government as an industrial satellite town and a coastal economic development zone, it is situated along the eastern Guangdong coastal corridor, nestled between mountains and water, covering a total area of 50.69 square kilometers, with an urban built-up area of 10.32 square kilometers. It has 26,000 households and a total population of 1... [More detailed information about Haicheng Town++]

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of Guangdong Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units